Filmstalker: February 2006 Archives

The Jolly Boys Last Stand

When I saw the cast list on this DVD I was extremely torn. On one side there were the talents and draw of Andy Serkis, while on the other there was the name of Sacha Baron Cohen, the man behind Ali G, you would struggle hard to find two more...

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Written by Richard Brunton at 7:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hotel Rwanda

I approached this movie already knowing some of what had happened in Rwanda, and more than the average person. Not through any special connection, merely through the reading of the amazing book Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda by Romeo Dallaire which chronicles the horrendous...

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Written by Richard Brunton at 9:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bin-jip (3 Iron)

From the outset this is an unusual film, if you didn't know, the main characters don't speak at all. Well, not entirely true, the female of the lead couple does utter one line and a scream or two, but that's it, and for most of the opening scenes it's just...

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Written by Richard Brunton at 5:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Island

The Island, supplied by LOVEFiLM DVD Rental, was nominated on my previous writing life [Edited - Richard] Readers Awards 2005 in the category of Worst Execution of the Best Plot, and for good reason too. The film may sound like a superb concept, but the realisation is pitifully poor and...

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Written by Richard Brunton at 2:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Chinjeolhan geumjassi (Sympathy for Lady Vengeance)

Having seen the excellent Oldboy by Chan-wook Park I was eager to see this movie on release. Unfortunately the screener I was passed was damaged and I decided to catch it at the weekend with everyone else. My frame of mind was very much set in Oldboy, as I hadn't...

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Written by Richard Brunton at 7:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Jarhead

War movies used to fall cleanly into one category, then they started getting blurry, questioning the war, those in charge at every level, and even the soldiers themselves. Reality and confusion came to them and they edged more and more towards reality rather than dramatic interpretation. With that comes Jarhead,...

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Written by Richard Brunton at 7:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Aeon Flux

This movie was pretty much trashed by the US critics, and this film just goes to prove that sometimes they get it wrong, not totally, but wrong none the less. Aeon Flux is not such a bad movie as they make out, in fact there's some clever aspects to it...

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Written by Richard Brunton at 10:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Derailed

I've been seeing hype for this film for some time, all around bringing Jennifer Aniston back to the big screen in a surprising role and being teamed up with Clive Owen. The trailer promised chasing and running filled with sexual tension and perhaps even some naughtiness, yet without spoiling anything...

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Written by Richard Brunton at 9:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Grizzly Man

The short description of this film has you from the telling, a man living with wild bears. That's all it took to have me interested, and the name Werner Herzog didn't even have an impact on that. It took a screener from one of my local cinemas, the Filmhouse, for...

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Written by Richard Brunton at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Manchurian Candidate

Being a fan of the original movie with Frank Sinatra turning out what must be his best onscreen performance, I wondered if the modern remake curse was going to hit this movie. With the writing credits of Daniel Pyne and Dean Georgaris it did have the promise to be something...

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Written by Richard Brunton at 9:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sky Blue \ Wonderful Days

Sky Blue, or Wonderful Days, was a totally, and please forgive the pun, out of the blue choice for me and I chose it for no other reason than it popped up in my recommendations list for my DVD rental service. Something that shows how good the recommendation service is...

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Written by Richard Brunton at 4:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)